Highlights from Ramaphosa’s family meeting: The new, adjusted level 3 regulations

Liquor licence holders and their patrons can breathe a sigh of relief as the ban on the sale of booze has been lifted at last following a the gradual waning of the second wave of Covid-19 infections.

This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the nation on Monday night.

• Restrictions on the sale of alcohol have been eased and liquor licence holders whose establishments can sell liquor off-site consumption can now operate between 10am and 6pm.
• Duty-free shops, wineries, micro-breweries and micro-distilleries are allowed to sell their wares during the normal operating hours stipulated by their liquor licences.
• Sales for on-site consumption of alcohol in places such as taverns bars and restaurants are permitted between 10am and 10pm.
• Public places such as beaches, dams rivers parks and swimming pools have been reopened subject toCovid-19 heatlh protocols.
• The national curfew has been moved extended to stand between 11pm and 4pm
• Funerals are still not permitted to be attended by more than 50 people.
• Ramaphosa urged people who contract the  virus while living with others to self- isolate or try to access a government quarantine facility to this end.

ALSO READ: Here’s Ramaphosa’s new rules on booze sales

Businesses will need to close by 10pm to allow their customers and staff to return home by curfew including cinemas; theatres; casinos; museums, public swimming pools; beaches and public parks; botanical gardens, and gyms and fitness centres and businesses offering wine tastings.

International air travel also remains restricted for OR Tambo Airport, King Shaka Airport and Cape Town Airport.

Religions gatherings may now not consist of more than 100 people outdoors and 50 people indoors.

Should the venue be too small to accommodate these numbers, no more than 50% of the venue’s capacity should be occupies and social distancing should be maintained throughout with mask wearing mandatory the entire time.

Beginning the month of February with two milestones in the national fight against the pandemic, Ramaphosa earlier today welcomed the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines which landed from India.

This as the the country’s number of active cases of virus dropped to 109,977. At the peak of the second wave, active cases in the country hit over 200,000 by mid January.

The first 1,2 million doses of the vaccine would go to front-line healthcare workers, according to Ramaphosa .

READ MORE: Government gazettes level 3 lockdown regulations on booze, curfew

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.